The Politician
by saropilise
Summary: Starts out in the year that district 13 was supposedly destroyed. Our nameless hero tries to fight against the injustice of the capital using a different approach. Mostly takes place before the events of the Hunger Games books.
1. Chapter 1

Many, many years in the future, a corrupt civilization rules North America. Yes, we all know it's name. Panem. We always hear of the girl on fire, the one who saved us from the oppression and gave us the right to speak our minds. So here I am, speaking mine.

I never met Katniss, I heard of her on the news, watched her in the games, I was a hostage when our government started to bomb the children in the Capital. But I'm not here to talk about my life, I'm here to talk about the life a person before the girl on fire that tried to change our world, who wanted to stand against our society and rid the world of inequality. This was years ago, the year that the uprising began in district 13, 75 years before the Mockingjay Revolution.

In house of the richest of the rich, there was a child born on a midwinter morning. The child watched the world grow around him as he grew, always observing. He watched with anger filled eyes as children lined up for the reaping. He was a child. That could just as easily have been him. This was all because of a stupid war. Everyone told him that the rebels deserved to die because they rose against the government. But why would they do that? Didn't they know how powerful the capital was? Surely if they managed to survive as long as they did against it they would have know what would happen if they failed. Well... He didn't know... No one could have expected what happened. An entire civilization, completely wiped out.

The child's parents were always so stern. They would scold him when he didn't punish the avoxs for making a mistake, they told him he had to become a proper gentleman.

"But isn't the point of being a gentleman being a gentle man?" The boy once argued back as his father gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?" "I'm saying that the word gentleman had to come from somewhere. It has the words "gentle" _and_ "man"so why is it that in order to be considered to be a gentleman you cannot be gentle those around you?" The child demanded. His father scoffed and looked away.

"You're overthinking things. Just do as you're told." The child didn't want to do as he was told. He wanted people to see that a gentleman was not in anyway gentle and that the rebellion was not simply an act of defiance, but of desperation.

If the districts are as beneath the Capital as the government says and the smaller the number, the better off the district was, then why wouldn't they try to stand up on their own. There was plenty of slums and poverty within the Capital, and 13 was the district with the largest number, therefore it was was the poorest district. If the Capital and people drunk off their arses, wallowing in muck filled alleys, then what could the district that was the poorest of the poor be like? The boy cringed at the thought.

The child was very tired after the long argument with his father. He sighed as his feet dragged up the long, graceful stairway that led to his room. He could go to bed, but thats what the government wanted. To have him be a good boy, get a good sleep, go to school and get good grades. Part of him wanted to do this too. He imagined what it would have been like if 13 had just done what they were told and gave into the system. There wouldn't be any reapings, nor any Hunger Games. There wouldn't be scattered corpses in ruins on TV. Anyone now would say they should have kept their mouth shut and suffered in silence. But why should people be brushed aside? People who or hurting have something to say? They had voices, they had feeling. Just because they weren't from the Capital didn't mean they weren't people. Just because he was a child didn't mean his voice was invalid. Like 13 the child would rise up. District 13 must have known it would have been a lot easier to go with the system, just like it would be a lot easier for the boy to go to bed. If the people who had nothing could find something that was worth getting blown to bits for, then the child could find something that was worth neglecting his human tendencies for. Yes, he could.

The child stopped right in front of his bedroom door. He would fight against the system.

"MOM, DAD! I'M NOT GOING TO BED, I'M GOING TO GO OUTSIDE TO READ A BOOK AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!" The child shouted at the top of his lungs as he dove into the study across the hall, grabbed the first book his fingers would reach, and sprinted outside into the courtyard. There was no turning back. The child began to giggle uncontrolablly as he hid behind the thick oak tree and opened up the book. He squinted in the darkness as he tried to read the title in the darkness. "Right." He whispered as he snapped his fingers. A small outdoor light began to glow as he picked it up and held it over the cover. It was a book on ancient cultures.

His eyes dance on the pages as he furiously read until the moon was high in the sky. Crickets chirped in the nearby pond. The child could feel himself slipping away.

Fire. The book was on fire. The child stuck his hand into the purple flames as they began to lick at his clothes. His face shone with curiosity as he heard something snap. He quickly looked up to find a wispy man in robes with a thick curly beard. He looked familiar. Perhaps he was one of the people in the ancient cultures book. "Sir, do you know where I am?" The child asked as he looked around. They were surrounded by ruins and burning pillars. The child's breath quickened. "Sir?" The man didn't so much as glance at him, he just continued to stare at the mountain in the distance. The child stood up now, body engulfed in the purple flame. "Hey!" He blurted as he tugged on the man's robe, it gave way immediately and fell to his ankles. The child tried squeezed his eyes shut but with no success. Beneath the robe was a charred skeleton, one that whistled and creaked in the wind. The child gasped and fell backward in fear. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. The man turned towards him. His eyes were like black pits in his skull and his skin was a sickly gray that clung to his body. The more the child stared into the eyes of the man, the more he couldn't look away.

Frozen in fear, the child let a single tear drip down in the ashy earth underneath him. As the tear fell, the demon opened it's mouth and let out a bloodcurdling scream. It was in pain and was terrified. There had to be something the child could do. Instinctively, he swallowed his fear and wrapped his arms around the demon, pulling into a tight hug. It didn't matter how badly it smelled, how boney it's elbows were, it needed comfort, so the child said the few words that he told himself when he needed comfort.

"If something is wrong, fix it, if it can't be fixed, move on to something worth fixing." The child told himself that whenever he got a bad mark on a assignment, made a mistake, or insulted something and felt regret. It was what a teacher said to him once. She was arguably his favourite teacher. The demon's screeches stopped. It's head fell against the child's own.

"417" It breathed in his ear, so quietly he could barely hear it before he was shaken awake. A blonde haired avox stared at him with anxious eyes and looked over to the house then back at him. "I-I have school." The child stuttered. The avox nodded as she pulled the book from his hands. "No I need it for a presentation." He explained as he pushed her hands away and rose to his feet. The avox nodded and put a finger to her cocoa coloured lips and shrugged. "Yes i would prefer if you didn't tell my parents." The child said under his breath. It was best not to keep his driver waiting.


	2. Chapter 2

The child closed his eyes as he began to drift off in class. His heart beat quickened as he began to think of the Avox girl who kept his secret. Where did Avox's come from? WHy were they not allowed to speak? The child opened up his eyes and raised his hand.

"Yes?" His teacher pointed to him as she paused, hologram pen still in her hand. "Ms, why do we have Avoxes?" The child's voice rung throughout the classroom. All of his classmates turned to look at him. "Excuse me? I don't see the relevance to the lesson?" His teacher stuttered, turning towards him. He now had her full attention. "The Avoxes. They do our dirty work, they're practically slaves. Are they born into that?" He asked. His teacher shook her head. "Avoxes are not allowed to reproduce" "Then where do they come from?" The boy demanded. "I need you to lower your voice." His teacher stated calmly. All eyes were on him. "Lowing my voice won't satisfy my curiosity." He growled. His teacher's eye twitched. "Class, you all know what Avoxes are, right?" The teacher questioned as she headed back to the front of the room. _What was she doing?_ The boy thought as she changed the hologram to a map of Panem. The class all nodded, uneasy.

"Good. Because of your friend over there we are now going to learn where they come from." The child's eyes lit up as he stared excitedly into his teacher's eyes. "Most Avoxes are survivors of the bombing of District 13, although anyone charged with treason usually become an Avox, anyone committing a serious offense can too." The child's face fell. "But... some of the Avoxes are kids too..." He objected. He saw his teacher grimace as she changed the hologram back to its previous setting. "Treason is treason." She breathed. She looked away and cleared her throat before continuing with the lesson. Maybe she hated it too. She was old enough to be alive before the rebellion. She probably could remember what it was like to not be gathered around a television every summer to watch children kill each other. Maybe he wasn't the only who cared.

The day dragged on until the child's feet began to drag and back was bent over with all the books he was carrying in his bag. His driver threw his bag over his shoulder and gently placed it into the seat beside him as the boy stepped into the sleek black car. "Rough day?" He asked. The boy nodded and stared out the window. It was late spring. The reaping would be coming soon. The boy wondered if the Avox girl was born in District 13 before they blew it to hell. He wondered if she had any family or friends that she left behind. He swallowed hard. It was disgusting how badly the government treated the people of the districts. She wasn't much older than he was and already her life was in ruin and she was nothing. She would have been nothing if she wasn't in the Capital, at least, that's how the government saw it.

His driver opened his door and the child stepped out, blinking in the sunlight. He had to see the Avox again. He had to know. The child sprinted through the entrance as his driver called after him. "Sir? Your bag!" But the child didn't care. The Avox was in the courtyard so she had to be one of the gardeners. His feet raced down the steps, taking two at a time as he bolted down the stairway into the Avox's quarters, running into a tall, male Avox. "Sorry!" He blurted as he took as step back. The Avox shook his head before bowing to him. "Do you know where I can find one of the gardening Avoxes? She's about four inches taller than me with dark skin and blonde hair." The child asked. The Avox's eyes widened, taken back. The child knew how irregular it was for a person of his social status to ask for a specific Avox, but he needed to know. The Avox gestured to a timetable pinned against the and tapped #26. "Wait, are you given numbers in the place of names?" The Avox man nodded sheepishly. He knew that the boy wasn't allowed to talk to him.

"26." The boy muttered, looking for her number to find that she trimming the hedges in the southeast maze. "Thank you!" He called out as he bolted back up the steps and sprinted outside the mansion. The wind whipped his neatly combed hair around as he began to jog down the stone pathway that led to the maze.

26. 26. 26. The boy yelped as his foot caught on a loose stone, sending him tumbling into a wall of the hedge, ripping a hole in it. "Ow." He whimpered as he began to rub his head, looking up. His heart stopped. 26 was staring at him, eyes wide. "I'm okay." He reassured her as he stood to his feet, glancing at the hedge he just made a giant hole in. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to you." The child swallowed as he stared into her hazel eyes. She raised an eyebrow. "I learned where Avoxes came from today and I... well... I was wondering if you would tell me about District 13." The Avox glared at the boy. "Right you can't talk. Um.. I have a pen and a napkin from lunch, do you know how to write?" She stared at the child as he drew a gold ballpoint pen from his pocket along with a napkin.

The child had to know. He wanted to hear from her how horrible their government was. How much her life was ruined by them. How she was the victim. "I promise. I won't tell anyone. It will be our secret." He whispered as he handed them to her. The Avox stared at him as he plumped himself onto the ground underneath the shade of the hedge. The child tapped the ground, beckoning her to sit. Taking a deep breath, the Avox did so and began to write on the napkin. Her writing was rushed and looked like scribbles, but thankfully the child could read it. He looked over her shoulder at her words.

She only 2 when it happened. Her parents tried to protect her but they were shot by the Peacekeepers before the bombing started and was taken to the Capital. The Avox talked of her earliest memories being blood, screaming, and roaring, she didn't know what the roaring noise was, but it was still engraved in the Avox's head. She grew up a slave, and was beaten harshly by her masters before she was sold to the boy's father. The Avox did nothing. She was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The child looked in horror as he read every word the Avox wrote. Every single one. An anger burned in his throat that was hotter than any anger he had experienced before. His face glowed red. This was wrong. This was all so wrong. The child knew it was it was bad but he had no idea... the Avox...

Children should not be having children.

The child knew that much. He wanted to stop her, he wanted to take the pen away and never look at the words again. But he couldn't, just like in the dream when as much as he wanted to look away, he couldn't. The child wasn't sure if that was because he was too weak to say enough was enough or strong enough to bear through it. His breath shook as the Avox finally stopped writing. It was done. She was 12 years old... and already a mother. The child lifted up the Avox's face to see that tears were running down her cheeks. The president's son. The president's son did this, and President Tonns knew. He watched. He did nothing. This... this could not go on.

The child stared into the Avox's eyes as he wrapped his scrawny arms around her, both their bodies shaking. "He'll pay for this... they all will..." He whispered in the Avox's ear. She let out a small sob and pressed her nose into the child's boney shoulder. He couldn't change what happened to her, but he would do everything in his power to make sure that this never happened again. He would kill them. He would destroy them all.


	3. Chapter 3

The child and the Avox grew closer in the next couple of years, leaving notes for each other in the courtyard where they met. The child may have spoken out before he heard the Avox's story, but he knew that in order to achieve his goal, he had to keep his mouth shut. His parents were relieved by how well behaved he was, despite them being sad excuses for parents. They thought he had grown out of his old ways. The child knew this. He wanted them to think he had. It made it less likely that they would expect any more trouble from him, therefore making it easier to focus on changing the society for the better.

"We can kill them, together, it'll just be you and me, we can take them all out one by one until we're the lasting ones standing, then we will be the ones making the shots, we can actually do something, we can make it all a better place!" The child smiled sadistically. "We will kill everyone who ever stands in our way, anyone who believes in the system-" His voice shook with rage as the Avox grasped him by the shoulders, pulling out a pen. _Calm down. _Her eyes glinted in the candlelight. "How-" 26 raised a hand to his face, softly caressing it. _I don't like it when you vent like this. It won't change anything. _The child swallowed hard as he stared at the words written on his forearm. She had a tendency to write there when she didn't have paper since she wasn't allowed to write at all, much less on herself. He didn't mean to upset her. He just wanted her to know he would protect her and wouldn't stop until she could live a normal life. "I... I''m sorry."He muttered as a small smile grew on the Avox's face as she licked her lips. The child didn't have to see what she wrote to know that she was thanking him. He hand fell from his wrist as she slipped the pen back in his pocket, leaning against him as her head fell onto his shoulder. His parents were at a fundraising party so there was no chance of anyone coming in his room.

She was his anchor. She was the only one who could calm him down. The only one who understood him, and he her.

The Avox had her tongue removed when she was 3 so she never really learned how to speak, but she had to learn to understand quickly. She was caring and soft, yet so strong. It perplexed the child who had now become a teenager. He would have cracked under her circumstances. He would have lost it, taken a knife and-

Despite the poor treatment the Avox received from the Capital, she hated when the teenager would go into long rants of hate or go into detail about how he would kill all the politicians. She wrote to him that he should focus more on the good things in life, like she did. But what good things did she have? She didn't have a chance, a future, a choice, she was controlled so much it made the teenager look like a mountain stream compared to her.

_You. _The Avox's scribbles had become neater with all the practice in the last 6 years. The teenager stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't protect her from his father or mother, he couldn't give her ability to speak back, why was she grateful for him? He was the one who depended on her and talked to her about everything, he was the one who needed their midnight meetings to keep his sanity, he was the one that couldn't function without her. The Avox would have been fine without him. She would go through her daily life, trim hedges, clean fountains, plant stuff and keep the roses looking beautiful.

A lock of hair fell into her eyes as she continued to write flashlight in her mouth, knowing full well the teenager would not be satisfied with her answer. _You are the only person I've ever met who treats the Avoxes with respect. You teach me everything you learn in_ school,_ you want to live in a world full of justice and equality and you're willing to give up everything you know to do so. _The teenager's heart raced as he stared at the piece of lit up paper, brushing the lock of hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. Smiling, she continued to write. _I don't know if its possible to demolish the district system and making people more equal, but I know that if anyone can change the system, it's you._ The Avox looked up and into the teenager's eyes as he watched her chest rise and fall. His skin tingled as th Avox's fingers entwined with his own._  
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She had grown taller than him in the last couple of years. Her honey blonde hair was in a loose, low bun that really contrasted with her dark chocolate skin. Most women in the Capital wore large amounts of makeup that were bright and colorful with loud outfits, but not the Avox. That was expected since she_ was _an avox. Still, her simple beauty was breathtaking. A warm smile spread across the Avox's lips as the teenager pulled the flashlight out of her mouth and gently placed it onto the floor before bending down his head, slowly kissing her. His heart raced. What was the teenager doing? She was an avox for god's sake! She could get int _so_ much trouble if anyone found out. The Avox could be executed, the public saw avoxes as disposable so there wouldn't be much surprise if she was. At least the teenager had his parents to protect him if word got out, she had no one, if the teenager said a word trying to protect her, his parents would denounce him and they would both be in deep shit.

The Avox lifted her chin up as her arms wrapped around the teenager's neck. The teenager would admit it felt good. His neck retracted as he exhaled, his eyes still locked with hers. She was shaking. Did she not enjoy it? Her fingers clenched around the pen as she scribbled something onto the piece of paper before lifting it up to the teenager's face and shinning a flashlight on it. _That can never happen again. If anyone finds out we will- _"I know, but we're both dead anyway if anyone finds out about you writing, me teaching you... just everything we've been doing for the past 6 years and we've managed to stay alive..." Pain swelled in the teenager's eyes as he grasped both of her warm hands. "...So we might as well make the most of what we have... but it's up to you, I won't force anything." _  
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The Avox's lip trembled as tears swelled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she threw her arms around the teenager's torso nodding as her lungs struggled to keep up with her speeding heart. The teenager froze for a moment then turned off the flashlight before pulling her into a tight hug.

He had no intention of letting her go.

Over the next few months, the teenager and the Avox met in secret like usual but instead of just talking (or writing) and the teenager teaching the Avox what he learned in school, they did more romantic activities, often holding hands while the teenager went over his lessons with her and kissing her whenever she got a concept right. However, sometimes they would meet in the teenager's room on in the courtyard late pms and early ams and not do any kind of tutoring, talking or writing.

The teenager knew something was wrong with the Avox. He knew it. Whenever he asked her about she brushed him off with a simple "I'm fine" look. She took much longer to do the gardening than she used to and seemed to have a run in with many viruses and was throwing up quite often. Finally, the teenager's father decided to take her to a doctor.

The teenager was squirming uncontrollably in his bed that night, unable to sleep. He had an idea of what could be going on. It looks like their luck of secrecy may be over. He had no idea if his father would tell him what was wrong with her, maybe he would make up an excuse and send her off, but this would be the second time that this happened to her, if that didn't raise suspicion, the teenager didn't know what would. He groaned in defeat as he lept out of bed and marched down the stairs to the kitchen. It very rare that anyone in his family go into it, seeing as they never did the cooking.

He fumbled through the fridge, pulling out a container of mysterious soup and pressing the heat-up button on the side. It tasted like potatoes and leek, seeming to have dried chopped dates mixed in throughout it. He sighed, sucking on the spoon, looking over at the clock. It was 7:24. His father's hovercraft was scheduled to land 4 minutes ago.

The teenager burst up from the kitchen stool and bolted out the door. He didn't care how suspicious he looked, he had to know, he had to be sure. His long legs bound through the hallway as he emerged outside, blinking in the darkness as snow glittered down from the cloudy sky. "Dad!" He called out as his father trudged up the pathway with 26 at his heels. His grim face looked up in surprise at the sight of his son. "What happened?" The teenager asked, not glancing at the Avox, he had to make it seem like he was only concerned for his father and the well being of the estate.

His father glanced at the girl as his cold eyes slithered back into his son's, curling his lip. "The avox wench has gotten itself pregnant. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, _would you_ son?" The teenager's eyes glazed over as his breathing stopped.


End file.
